Judge Rules AZ Must Give Licenses To Deferred Action Immigrants

PHOENIX, AZ — A federal judge ruled that all deferred-action U.S. residents are entitled to licenses, against Gov. Ducey's efforts to deny certain immigrants licenses, according to reports. Advocates and attorneys for immigrants are applauding the decision.

While dreamers under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival program have been getting licenses without issue lately, Arizona had been refusing to license legal residents in other deferred-action programs. Judge David Campbell ruled that "the federal government makes no distinction," between those under DACA and those under other programs, the Arizona Daily Star reports.

Campbell said Arizona had been working with the intention of denying licenses to immigrants. First, they tried to prevent dreamers from getting licenses, then in March, the U.S. Supreme Court banned the state from denying dreamers licenses. The state then tried to deny other legal undocumented immigrants licenses.

(Get Phoenix Patch's real-time news alerts and free morning news letters. Like us on Facebook. Also, download the free Patch iPhone app or free Patch Android app.)

Nicolas Espíritu, an attorney at the National Immigration Law Center, said it's a crucial victory for those undocumented immigrants who need licenses. Those people "who have a document that proves their identity and proves their authorization to be in the country, and they’ll be able to get a driver’s license,” he said, according to the Star.

Arizona state attorneys argue that dreamers don't qualify for licenses, citing a 1996 state law saying licenses are available only to people whose presence in the U.S. is "authorized by federal law." Dreamers are here legally, and a U.S. appeals court ruled that only the federal government can decide who is in the country legally.

The National Conference of State Legislatures says all states issue licenses to dreamers. Twelve states—California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, Vermont and Washington—and the District of Columbia allow unauthorized immigrants to obtain licenses.

See more at the National Immigration Law Center

Article image AtSkwongPhoto via Shutterstock